Promise of free dental work draws thousands in Connecticut

A free dental clinic held annually in Connecticut is expected to attract thousands of people who lack the proper health insurance coverage for everything from routine checkups to oral surgery.

Held on Friday and Saturday, this year in Hartford, the clinic is
operated by the Connecticut Mission of Mercy and staffed by more
than 1,500 volunteers and 250 dentists. The seventh annual event
began attracting lines of people early Thursday morning,
encompassing hundreds of people by the evening.

According to local news outlet WFSB, mission doctor Bruce Tandy
said the dental clinic has grown every year over the past seven,
and roughly 2,400 patients will be treated through Saturday.

"This is going to be the biggest clinic ever done on the East
Coast, so we're pretty excited about it," Tandy said to the
news station.

Speaking with the Associated Press, Tandy said the clinic is
meant to serve individuals who do not typically have access to
dental services and people who remain uninsured. The doctor added
that Connecticut is home to thousands of people who, despite not
qualifying for Medicaid, cannot afford dental insurance.

One pair of people attending – twins Ethel and Evelyn Jones –
said they arrived in Hartford 24 hours before the clinic was
scheduled to open to ensure they’d receive treatment.

"I'm so early because I need my mouth worked on," Ethel
Jones told WFSB. "I don't have insurance, so this is the way
I need to go."

"Anything they can do for me, anything they can do, I
need," added Evelyn Jones.

According to NBC Connecticut, the mission clinic has treated more
than 11,000 patients since it first started in 2008. It has also
provided about $6 million in dental care.

Tandy said that although the clinic cannot hope to provide all
the care patients need, he hopes that lawmakers realize how
important it is that Americans have access to the proper
healthcare.

"Everybody here loves taking care of these patients," he
said. "We do this every day in our offices, but this is
special."